Free The Stargazers by Allison M. Dickson Page B

driving by. He also called me Cuntbreath, which really pissed me off. ”
    “Didn’t he get in trouble too?”
    “You kidding? The Miller’s Glenn Vikings were the division champs that year. Football owns this hellhole.”
    Aster shook her head. “That’s horrible.”
    “The worst was when I got busted for b reaking and entering. Into my own house.” She burst out laughing, her raucous giggles echoing down the quiet street. “So very lame . I lost my key and was trying to climb in through a window when a neighbor saw me and called the cops.”
    Aster laughed as well. “That’s pretty bad, all right.”
    Ruby let out a couple more giggles and sighed. “Okay, so I’m not the worst juvenile delinquent or anything, but I’m still d amaged goods emotionally. I wouldn’t be surprised if I’m alone the rest of my life after chasing away everyone who ’s tried to care about me. Hell, my brother didn ’t even want the responsibility of raising me after mom got sent up.”
    Aster sto pped and so did Ruby. “You’re being too hard on yourself. It’s not your fault what your mother did, and I’m sure it hurt your brother a lot too.”
    Ruby s tared at the ground , kicking pebbles down the sidewalk. “Onyx is a good guy. I guess I can’t blame him. Mom didn’t really give him the tools to be a parent, but he tried. Eventually the state decided the Xbox was doing more work keeping an eye on me than he was, and they wanted to put me in foster care. But Ivy stepped up, and here we are now.”
    “So I guess it all worked out, right? It seems like a good place.”
    “It’s a great place.” She met Aster’s eyes and grinned. “It’s an even better place now.”
    They started walking again.
    “I had a baby sister once . Born when Mom was hitting the pipe hot and heavy. She died of SIDS when she was still a newborn. Or so Mom said. Onyx and I always wondered about that, though.”
    Aster thought of a dead baby, possibly a murdered baby, and shuddered. It was a subject that hit too close to home. “Gods, that is terrible. ”
    “Gods? Mighty pagan of you.” Then she looked over at Aster and frowned. “Do we need to sit down ? You look a little pale .”
    “I’m okay.”
    “If you say so. I mean, I guess it is pretty bad. But it was a long time ago. I hardly remember any of it. Anyway, we’ll see Onyx at the Quick Lube this morning. Maybe he’ll let me bum a few smokes , and you can finally not be such a wuss and have one .”
    All the slang and unfamiliar terms were hitting Aster like a blizzard, and she struggled to decipher all of it. “What’s a Quick Lube?”
    “Wow , you really are Amish, aren’t you? There are these things called cars , you see? And these cars need oil to work correctl y, you see? Onyx runs a place where they do that. You see?”
    Ev en though it was clear Ruby was mocking her , Aster was grateful for the explanation. “I see.”
    The town was waking up around them as shop owners flipped their OPEN signs and put out their street wares. With its brick storefronts and little striped awnings, the street was quaint and friendly looking and not completely unlike Ellemire. She spied an ice cream parlor called Double Dips, an art gallery, a few cafes w ith outdoor seating where a couple lonely souls sat eating breakfast under umbrellas. On the corner, a team of men were rolling a red and white cart into place that, according to its sign, sold something called “hamburgers.”
    Several cars drove up and down the street, but slowly as if to take in the day rather than outrun it. The reek of their engines still got to her, but it was fainter than it had been the night before. “I like it here.”
    Ruby shrugged. “It’s not a total shit hole. You won’t find many gang shootings and crack heads in sleepy little ‘burbs like this at least. But small towns have drawbacks for people who just want to forget where they came from, believe me.”
    Being the member of the most notorious